Flashbacks
by 8annie81
Summary: Perry can't help but reminess about being a platypus. More and more, his guilt haunts him, trapping him as a human. His host family took him in, in void of a platypus, he lives so close, but they can never know. The day they get their pet back, he disappears, how can he manage? Knowing whatever he does he must lie to and hurt his loved ones?


Outside his window the sky was still gray. It was morning yet, but the sun hadn't begun its journey across the sky. Perry ironed a teal blue dress shirt, mindful of the buttons and pockets. While his hands wandered across the fabric, his mind wandered back. Back to when his hands, his entire body, were that very shade of teal blue.

When he was much closer to the ground, when he didn't need shirts.

When, he was a platypus. But there isn't time to think about that now, now is there?

Sliding on the crisp, somewhat hot shirt, his deft hands trailed down the buttons sinching them together and closing the shirt. He pulled on a fairly new pair of jeans, a sturdy pair of shoes. Knowing little about them, all he really cared about was that they fit and didn't fall apart. Candace had given him her blessing on them, so he assumed they were good. They served his purpose. Running a comb through his hair, he opened the door to his room.

The Flynn-Fletcher house was quiet, so thinking better of it, he closed his door and slid the window open instead.

He longed to go upstairs, hug the boys and say goodbye. Tell them he loved them, thank them for har boring him, even when they didn't know that it was him. Cling to them, tell them everything. He'd even hug Candace, along with Linda and her newest husband, Lawrence. Doing his best to push the thought away, he jumped down from the guest room window, the guest room was all it was anymore, crouching low to the ground and rolling to both quiet the sound of him hitting and to ease the jarring.

Slowly he stood, dusting what little dirt off that had clung to him. Once he'd made his way to the fence, he didn't bother with the latch. Putting a hand on top of the gate, he was quickly over, landing again as quietly as he'd been taught.

Feeling like a thief, and a guilty one at that he looked up at the window where his boys slept. He couldn't do it.

Picking up a small stone, he clicked it against their window, then another, and another. Finally there was movement in the room, and two figures appeared before it. It slid open to a green haired boy, rubbing his eyes and yawning almost silently, besides his tired eyed companion with nearly red, spiked hair.

"I'll be gone for...a while today." Perry called up to them.

Phineas' disappointment showed, "You said you'd see our project today." He reminded, sleep cracking his voice.

Ashamed, Perry rubbed the back of his neck, "I want to. You know I do, I just...can't."

Ferb blinked at him, and then averted his eyes. It stung, badly, and Perry weakened further.

"When do you two think you'll start scheming?" He asked, and watched as the red haired boy lit up.

"We can start now!"

The boys had long given up asking where he went every day, as he was too evasive to give any kind of answer, and far too evasive to be followed. So anything they could gather from him, they deciphered religiously. Him asking questions about their day, was as loud of an, admission as they'd get from him. Knowing that, he wasn't surprised when Phineas suddenly turned the lock on the window as far as it would go and the window lowered itself to the ground in a nearly unrealistic way.

When the boys had found the time to do that, he didn't know. The boys climbed out the window, as he had, and it gave him an ache of guilt, knowing that he had planned on leaving.

"Anything you guys need from the uh-..." Perry looked away from their happy eyes. He couldn't withstand such brightness, he couldn't have that light shone on him. Why else would he leave at the darkest hour of the day? "Store?" He finished weakly.

Then a smile broke out on his face, as Ferb held out a looong shopping list.

"Alright." Perry said, their cheer growing on him. "I'll grab everything on this list for you guys."

Their faces immediately fell, tearing at him. "Hey, I'll be back before you know it." He took the list and began to walk away.

He felt both better, and worse, knowing that he would be coming back. Just as he was, a stranger who knew them.


End file.
